No-Carve Pumpkins

Blow up a balloon and make a knot. Dip strips of orange tissue paper into thinned-out decoupage glue, and wrap them around the balloon. Be sure to leave a little opening around the knot. When dry, pop and remove the balloon and decorate your paper pumpkin. You can find free pumpkin face patterns at BHG.com.

Cut a band of orange paper that will cover a straight-sided vase from top to bottom and all around. Draw a spooky or silly face on the paper and cut the face shapes out of the paper with a crafts knife. Wrap the paper around the vase and secure with double-sided tape. Place a lit candle inside the vase or use a battery-operated candle to give your jack-o’-lantern a spooky glow.

All Laced Up. Cover a pumpkin with pretty lace for an old-fashioned look, or Halloween-patterned lace for spooky appeal.

Lay black lace over a medium-sized pumpkin and mark the location for the stem opening. Remove the lace. Cut a small circle opening for the stem. Lay the lace over the pumpkin, inserting the stem through the opening. Gather the lace at the pumpkin bottom, trimming the excess, and secure the lace with pins. To complete the look, you can paint the stem black.

Spooky On the Inside

Black Cat Tablecloth. Make a no-sew Halloween tablecloth in minutes. Create a black cat silhouette template from poster board (search online for clip art if you need a pattern). Cut out the scaredy-cat shapes from black felt, then attach them to a large piece of gold felt using fusible web.

Beastly Bookshelves. Place a cake pedestal on a bookshelf and top with green hedge balls. For that creep factor, use hot glue to attach plastic spiders, roaches, or worms. Perch a faux raven beside the display.

Creepy Cushions. Start with a ready-made pillow and glue on sequin letters that spell out spooky words like "BOO" or "R.I.P." You can also wrap a black pillow with white yarn--or a white pillow with black yarn--to simulate a spider web. Bonus: It’s easy to remove after the holiday.

Scary on the Outside

Window Webs. Lay out the design on a rectangle of cardboard that’s 4 inches larger than your window. Make an outline of the window using blanket binding and straight pins to hold in place. Lengths of black ribbon provide the large crisscross look and yarn or ribbon works well to finish the web design. Watch this how-to video for step-by-step details.